'compound' or open space, enclosed by a palisade. When we
arrived there, it was occupied by a troop of mounted riflemen

under canvas, outside the compound. The officers lived in
the fort; and as we had letters to the Colonel - Somner - and

to the Captain - Rhete, they were very kind and very useful
to us.

We pitched our camp by the Laramie river, four miles from the
fort. Nearer than that there was not a blade of grass. The

cavalry horses and military mules needed all there was at
hand. Some of the mules we were allowed to buy, or exchange

for our own. We accordingly added six fresh ones to our
cavalcade, and parted with two horses; which gave us a total

of fifteen mules and six horses. Government provisions were
not to be had, so that we could not replenish our now

impoverished stock. This was a serious matter, as will be
seen before long. Nor was the evil lessened by my being laid

up with a touch of fever - the effect, no doubt, of those
drenches of stagnant water. The regimental doctor was

absent. I could not be taken into the fort. And, as we had
no tent, and had thrown away almost everything but the

clothes we wore, I had to rough it and take my chance. Some
relics of our medicine chest, together with a tough

constitution, pulled me through. But I was much weakened,
and by no means fit for the work before us. Fred did his

best to persuade me from going further. He confessed that he
was utterly sick of the expedition; that his injured knee

prevented him from hunting, or from being of any use in
packing and camp work; that the men were a set of ruffians

who did just as they chose - they grumbled at the hardships,
yet helped themselves to the stores without restraint; that

we had the Rocky Mountains yet to cross; after that, the
country was unknown. Colonel Somner had strongly advised us

to turn back. Forty of his men had tried two months ago to
carry despatches to the regiment's headquarters in Oregon.

Only five had got through; the rest had been killed and
scalped. Finally, that we had something like 1,200 miles to

go, and were already in the middle of August. It would be
folly, obstinacy, madness, to attempt it. He would stop and

hunt where we were, as long as I liked; or he would go back
with me. He would hire fresh good men, and buy new horses;

and, now that we knew the country, we could get to St. Louis
before the end of September, and' - . There was no reasonable

answer to be made. I simply told him I had thought it over,
and had decided to go on. Like the plucky fellow and staunch

friend that he was, he merely shrugged his shoulders, and
quietly said, 'Very well. So be it.'

Before leaving Fort Laramie a singularincident occurred,
which must seem so improbable, that its narration may be

taken for fiction. It was, however, a fact. There was
plenty of game near our camping ground; and though the

weather was very hot, one of the party usually took the
trouble to bring in something to keep the pot supplied. The

sage hens, the buffalo or elk meat were handed over to Jacob,
who made a stew with bacon and rice, enough for the evening

meal and the morrow's breakfast. After supper, when everyone
had filled his stomach, the large kettle, covered with its

lid, was taken off the fire, and this allowed to burn itself
out.

For four or five mornings running the kettle was found nearly
empty, and all hands had to put up with a cup of coffee and

mouldy biscuit dust. There was a good deal of
unparliamentary language. Everyone accused everyone else of

filthy greediness. It was disgusting that after eating all
he could, a man hadn't the decency to wait till the morning.

The pot had been full for supper, and, as every man could
see, it was never half emptied - enough was always left for

breakfast. A resolution was accordingly passed that each
should take his turn of an hour's watch at night, till the

glutton was caught in the act.
My hour happened to be from 11 to 12 P.M. I strongly

suspected the thief to be an Indian, and loaded my big pistol
with slugs on the chance. It was a clear moonlight night. I

propped myself comfortably with a bag of hams; and concealed
myself as well as I could in a bush of artemisia, which was

very thick all round. I had not long been on the look-out
when a large grey wolf prowled slowly out of the bushes. The

night was bright as day; but every one of the men was sound
asleep in a circle round the remains of the camp fire. The

wolf passed between them, hesitating as it almost touched a
covering blanket. Step by step it crept up to the kettle,

took the handle of the lid between its jaws, lifted it off,
placed it noiselessly on the ground, and devoured the savoury

stew.
I could not fire, because of the men. I dared not move, lest

I should disturb the robber. I was even afraid the click of
cocking the pistol would startle him and prevent my getting a

quiet shot. But patience was rewarded. When satiated, the
brute retired as stealthily as he had advanced; and as he

passed within seven or eight yards of me I let him have it.
Great was my disappointment to see him scamper off. How was

it possible I could have missed him? I must have fired over
his back. The men jumped to their feet and clutched their

rifles; but, though astonished at my story, were soon at rest
again. After this the kettle was never robbed. Four days

later we were annoyed with such a stench that it was a
question of shifting our quarters. In hunting for the

nuisance amongst the thicket of wormwood, the dead wolf was
discovered not twenty yards from our centre.

The reader would not thank me for an account of the
monotonous drudgery, the hardships, the quarrellings, which

grew worse from day to day after we left Fort Laramie. Fred
and I were about the only two who were on speaking terms; we

clung to each other, as a sort of forlornsecurity against
coming disasters. Gradually it was dawning on me that, under

the existing circumstances, the fulfilment of my hopes would
be (as Fred had predicted) an impossibility; and that to

persist in the attempt to realise them was to court
destruction. As yet, I said nothing of this to him. Perhaps

I was ashamed to. Perhaps I secretly acknowledged to myself
that he had been wiser than I, and that my stubbornness was

responsible for the life itself of every one of the party.
Doubtless thoughts akin to these must often have haunted the

mind of my companion; but he never murmured; only uttered a
hasty objurgation when troubles reached a climax, and

invariably ended with a burst of cheerylaughter which only
the sulkiest could resist. It was after a day of severe

trials he proposed that we should go off by ourselves for a
couple of nights in search of game, of which we were much in

need. The men were easily persuaded to halt and rest.
Samson had become a sort of nonentity. Dysentery had

terribly reduced his strength, and with it such intelligence
as he could boast of. We started at daybreak, right glad to

be alone together and away from the penal servitude to which
we were condemned. We made for the Sweetwater, not very far

from the foot of the South Pass, where antelope and black-
tailed deer abounded. We failed, however, to get near them -

stalk after stalk miscarried.
Disappointed and tired, we were looking out for some snug

little hollow where we could light a fire without its being
seen by the Indians, when, just as we found what we wanted,

an antelope trotted up to a brow to inspect us. I had a
fairly good shot at him and missed. This disheartened us

both. Meat was the one thing we now sorely needed to save